Friday, July 27, 2012

Every once in a while I sit down to write something here and I cannot focus my brain on just one topic. Today is one of those days...

It has been a good week. My two older kids were in a nature camp every morning and that left me and Baby Gus with three full hours of just-the-two-of-us time. At first, he was not so thrilled with this. He loves Abby and Will so much and thrives off of the attention and commotion that is CONSTANT when they are around. Monday morning when he watched them skip off happily to sit under a big oak tree with several other campers, and realized he was stuck in his car seat in the minivan with Mama, he literally burst into tears. And I could hardly blame him - it broke my heart! My little buddy isn't even 18 months old and hardly says a decipherable word, but he understands SO much and he communicates incredibly well. He was not happy about being left out of all the fun!! All week I tried to get errands done that would be easier with one kid instead of three, and also tried to find time to do something for him that he would think was fun. By the third day he was totally fine with seeing them off and looked forward to our mornings together. Today it was blazing hot so we went to the book store for a little while to play indoors. He was the only kid there and was so excited to have the train table all to himself.

He literally climbed up on the table to play. Beyond cute.

While I was there a woman approached me and introduced herself. She is a runner in the 10k training program I am coaching for the Reston Runners! We have over 50 runners and the program kicked off on Monday night and I haven't yet gotten to know everyone. I was so excited to talk with her and to hear about how her training is going and about her goals and passion for the sport. She was actually the third participant this week who I have met and talked with about the program just while being out and about in Reston. I love talking to each of these women and am so grateful to be a part of the program! It is going to be amazing.

I cannot believe that July is coming to an end in just a few days. I love summer! I know it is hot, disgustingly so. I know it is humid and the air is thick and sometimes so hard to trudge through. But even still, I am a summer girl and I will be missing this season when it comes to an end (though I love love love the fall and will enjoy it and embrace it with open arms). The end of summer this year brings a really exciting event for me - Hood to Coast with Nuun! I have been dreaming of this relay for an entire year. I can honestly tell you that this is a DREAM COME TRUE for me. I have never run a relay before. I love Nuun and rely on the product daily - especially for my long runs and recovery. I am proud and grateful beyond words to run on this team in this amazing incredible relay!

A little while ago Nuun announced our leg assignments and I am going to be Runner #11 in Van 2 of Team Noon for AfterNuun Delight. Can you follow that? I'll try to explain. Nuun chose enough runners to make 3 separate relay teams. We are ALL part of AfterNuun Delight, but the three teams are Team Morning, Team Noon and Team Night. Each team has 12 runners and two vans (6 runners in each van), and each runner has three runs to complete over the course of the 200 mile race (you can see the map and leg assignments here: http://www.hoodtocoast.com/course-maps). We all have different runs assigned to us and will take turns running. We will be running in the middle of the night, in the heat of the day and in the early morning - just depends on how things go! Here is the lowdown on what is planned for Runner #11:

I will run a total of 16.22 miles

My first two runs are both rated "easy" (each of them are relatively flat with fairly low mileage - 4.82 and 4.18 miles respectively)

My last run is rated "hard" (it is 7.2 miles with a pretty steep ascent)

I cannot wait I cannot wait I CANNOT WAIT! Since I have been in the thick of my marathon training I haven't been doing any HTC-specific training in preparation for this race. My mileage is higher than it's ever been at this point in marathon training (I will log 64 miles this week (which is exactly what I peaked at last cycle), and am still quite a ways from my peak mileage week - I plan to hit close to 80 if all goes well) and I am feeling strong and hopeful that this training cycle is going to be an amazing one and that I will be well-prepared to tackle the relay. I cannot wait to share this experience with the amazing women who are on my team! It is going to be an adventure like none I have EVER experienced.

And as luck would have it (and I DO feel lucky!), I will be running my second ever relay just one month after HTC when I lace up for the DC Ragnar Relay with an amazing team of runners in the DC community. This is going to be an incredible experience as well! My mileage for that race is just over 13 miles total. I am going to learn A LOT about racing relays and fitting it into my training schedule and I am going to have so much fun and meet incredible people. I feel so blessed!

My runs this week have been really amazing. On Monday and Tuesday we ran easy at sunrise and then on Wednesday we hit the track for a killer work out. It was 10 sets of 600 HARD with a 200 jog and two minutes recovery between each set. I was running faster than I think I ever have around that track, but felt strong and in control and smart. I nailed my paces and loved every second of it. For my 600s I averaged 2:20 and was really consistent with the exception of the first couple being slower and one rogue superfast one (2:26, 2:25, 2:15, 2:18, 2:19, 2:21, 2:19, 2:19, 2:20, 2:20). It was a stellar effort with solid results. I am happy.

Thursday was my rest day and I am REALLY falling in love with that day. I used to resent it and go crazy, but that is changing. I love sleeping in after 4:45am. It is amazing.

Today we ran 8 miles with 6 of them at goal race pace (7:40). I am finding a rhythm there and getting really comfortable with the pace. The workout doesn't feel like a tax on my body. It feels like a firm pat on the back. A reassurance that my goal is MY GOAL and that I can do this. That I WILL do this. I am really happy that I'm doing this workout once a week. It is helping me to believe in myself.

Tomorrow is my long run and I have 18 miles planned. I won't have my usual partner in crime Chris to keep me company, but I think it will be good for me to do this without him (as much as I will miss him). Sometimes it's good to go out there on your own for a long run. It builds mental strength and character. I will look forward to my next run with my buddy though!

That's about all I have time for right now - Mr. Gus is waking from his nap and we want to head to the pool to cool off! I hope everyone has a great weekend filled with love, laughter, sweat and naps. That's what I want mine to include anyway :)

1 comments:

I am so excited to follow your team in the Hood to Coast Relay! I am kicking myself for not applying (Not that they would have chosen me) but I am dreaming that they would have. Have a great weekend and 18 miler.. I will be thinking of you while I am on my solo 16er. xo